ANNUAL  ADDRESS, 


DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE 


Ciilljoun  Conntt)  %irultura{  lofieti], 


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BY  PROF.  J.  E.  TENNEY 


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ADDRESS, 

DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE 


CALHOUN  COUNTY 


HELD  AT 

VJarsliall,  Vliclaigan. 
OCTOBER  7th  &  8th,  1856, 

BY  PROF.  J.  E.  TENNEY. 


MAESHALL. 

SSTH  LEWIS,  PEI  N  TEE. 

1857 


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ADDRESS. 


Fellow  Citizens: — 


It  is  fortunate  for  a  writer  in  this  practical  age,  when 
his  subject  needs  no  explanation  to  show  its  downright 
and  practical  usefulness. 

When  we  say  that  we  desire  every  man,  who  makes 
any  pretensions  to  being  connected  with  Agriculture,  to 
be  a  Model  Farmer,  itmirfit  seem  not  necessary  for  us 
to  show  how  much  both  himself  and  the  public  will,  in 
every  sense,  be  the  srainers  bvit;  but  there  are,  even  in 
this  enlightened  age,  those  whose  perceptive  faculties  are 
so  dull,  that  should  we  suggest  that  it  was  best  for  every 


man  to  cultivate  an  orchard,  or  at  least  a  tree  of  good 
fruit,  v/e  might  need  give  him  the  outspoken,  practical 
suggestion,  VThich  Dr.  Johnson  once  gave  to  a  friend: — 
‘  Jf  possible,”  said  he,  ^"haA^e  a  good  orchard.  I  know  a 
clergyman,  of  small  income,  who  brought  up  a  family, 
A'ery  respectably,  which  he  chiefly  fed  on  apple  dump¬ 
lings  !” 

From  a  Anew  of  the  needs  of  Ac^riculture,  Ave  haA'e 
chosen  to  make  practical  remarks  in  a  practical  manner, 
rather  than  to  All  a  few  pages  with  eloquent  sentences, 
Avhich  should  only  carry  to  the  mind  visions  of  unmean¬ 
ing  idealities. 

From  time  immemorial,  artists  have  depicted  the 
beauties  of  the  landscape  upon  the  glowing  canA^ass — 
kings  and  princes  have  enjoyed  the  luxuries  of  Agricul¬ 
ture,  and  poor  people  its  simple  pleasures,  and  borne  its 
hard  labors.  But  there  liaA^e  been  few  found  who  have 


A 


4 


given  lessons  of  wortli  and  practicability  to  the  husband¬ 
man.  Now,  when  the  ample  domains  of  Learning  are 
being  subjected  to  fresh  iiTigation  and  culture— when 
the  exclusiveness  of  the  cloister  is  giving  place  to  the 
free  distribution  of  the  intellectual  wealth  of  all  time — 
when  this  is  called  the  golden  age  of  reason — its  Para- 
<lise  regained,  surely  the  important  study  of  the  face  of 
our  own  mother  Earth,  should  not  be  excludcxl  from  the 
fair  domains. 


We  are  a  people,  living  at  a  railroad  speed— a  labor-, 
saving  and  time  economizing  j^eople,  and  we  need  care, 
lest  we  rush  headlong  over  treasures  of  infinite  value— 
we  need  heralds  upon  every  hill-top  of  science,  lest  the 
<juiet  valley  of  some  useful  stream  be  forgotten,  and  its 
advantages  unsecured.  Such  a  herald  do  we  stand  to¬ 
day,  and  while  our  hearis  throb  with  painful  forebodings 
•for  the  political  weal  of  our  country,  we  are  glad  to 
pause,  and,  taking  a  free  breath,  survey  the  quiet  homes 
of  America,  and  speak,  it  may  be,  a  few  words  of  cheer 
to  a  company  of  true  and  honest  men — a  class  who  are 
our  country’s  only  hope,  her  greatest  wealth,  and  should 
be  her  chief  pride. 

Agriculture  has  been  termed  the  parent  of  all  ait,” 
and  since  it  was  the  one  first  practiced  by  man,  and  the 
one  upon  which  he  almost  entirely  depends  for  subsist" 
dice,  in  a  savage  state;  luxuries  in  an  enlightened  one, 
and  exerts  a*  beneficial  influence  upon  the  health,  happi¬ 
ness  and  moral  nature  of  a  nation,  it  cannot  but  com¬ 
mend  itself  to  the  wise  and  good,  and  must  occupy  the 
highest  place  in  the  esteem  of  statesmen  and  philanthro¬ 
pists.  That  which  most  generally  concerns  mankind, 
should  most  deeply  interest  men  of  wisdom  and  benev¬ 
olence;  consequently.  Agriculture  should  be  the  theme 
of  all-absorbing  interest,  since  it  is  the  occupation  of  a 
large  majority  in  every  civilized  country.  In  France,  it 
has  been  estimated  that  two  thirds  of  the  people  are  en- 


I 


gaged  in  husbandry;  in  Italy,  more  than  three  fourths;' 
and  in  our  United  States,  not  much  less  than  five  sixths*- 
Such  a  gathering  as  this,  is  a  noble  proof,  that  Agri¬ 
culture  is  beginning  to  receive  the  attention  that  it  de¬ 
serves.  Time  has  been  when  the  philosopher  has  walked 
proudly  along,  looking  down,  as  he  thought,  from  a 
higher  heaven,  upon  the  poor  plowman,  wUile  the  plow¬ 
man  has  looked  upon  the  philosopher  as  a  clog  to  the 
wheel  of  Nature — a  piece  of  woi*se  than  useless  human 
machinery^  There  have  been  davs  when  the  scholar 
would  hardly  have  closed  the  lids  of  his  ponderous  vol- 
ume  to  have  a'one  out  and  shaken  hands  with  the  black- 
smith.  Time  has  been  when  the  dust  of  the  forge,  the 
clang  of  the  hammer,  and  the  rattle  of  the  loom,  have 
been  sneered  at,  bv  those  wdio  should  have  loved  them.- 
During  those  days,  the  pursuits  of  the  artisan  and  schol¬ 
ar,  which  should  have  kept  side  by  sid-e,  w^ere  separated, 
mutual  subjects  of  suspicion  and  ridicule.  This  separa-- 
,  tion  has  been  the  case  of  injury,  both  to  scientific  pur¬ 
suits,  and  agricultural  and  manufacturing  skill. 


While  the  man  of  science  has  wasted  time  and  ener¬ 
gies  in  frivolous  or  aimless  pursuits,  instead  of  directing 
liis  knowledge  to  some  great  and  good  practical  purpose. 
— the  Farmer  has  been  content  to  have  the  morn  usher 
in,  and  the  nio-ht  to  carrv  out,  the  hours  of  a  dav,  beo-un- 
and  ended,  just  as  his  father  and  grandfather  had  begun 
and  ended  it:  without  a  thouo’ht  that  he  ^vas  born  to  bet-- 

^  o 

ter  thino's.  Persons  have  lived  and  died,  not  manv 
hundred  years  since,  believing  that  David,  Abraham- 
and  Isaac,  feeding  their  flocks  upon  the  Eastern  hills, 
were  model  herdsmen,  and  that  the  Greeks,  who.  as  He- 
riod  and  Theophrastus  tell  us,  broke  the  ground  by  a 
rude  plough;  solved  it  by  hand;  covered  it  with  a  rake,- 
threshed  their  grain  with  a  flail,- winnowed  it  by  wdnd,. 
and  when  w^anted  for  the  family,  ground  it  in  niortars< 
or  quern  mills  into  meal,  were  model  Farmers- 


But  such  a  view  of  things  is  changing — such  days  are 
being  numbered  among  things  that  were.  We  are  pri¬ 
vileged  to  live  in  an  age  when  Minerva,  Ceres  and  Yul- 
can  walk  over  the  earth,  hand  in  hand.  We  are  blessed 
in  seeing  Science  and  Industry  sit  side  by  side,  in  the 
dingy  workshop.  The  one  carefully  and  kindly  apply¬ 
ing  knowledge  to  practical  purposes,  and  the  other 
gladly  receiving  and  patiently  carrying  out  those  prin¬ 
ciples  which  are  calculated  to  lighten  labor,  and  make 
man  less  a  mere  machine,  and  more  as  God  intended 
him,  a  well  developed,  reasoning  being. 

Of  the  importance  of  this  science  to  our  own  country, 
what  need  we  sav?  Do  not  the  broad  acres  that  stretch 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  in  rich  plateaus,  or  nes¬ 
tle  in  quiet  valleys,  among  hills,  waiting  for  the  plow 
and  the  hand  of  labor,  to  call  forth  wealth  untold,  give 
us  an  answer?  AYe  have  a  land,  the  richest  and  fairest 
in  Agricultural  facilities  and  beauties,  that  the  sun  evei* 
shone  upon.  AVe  need  not  enter  into  praises  of  our  soil 
and  climate,  when  there  are  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  million 
of  fruit  trees  planted  yearly,  in  one  of  the  newest  states; 
when  there  are  more  peaches  exposed  in  the  markets  of 
New  York,  annually,  than  are  raised  in  all  France;  and 
when  A  merican  apples  will  command  double  prices  in 
European  markets.  These  facts  speak  for  themselves* 
in  the  comparison  of  this  with  the  old  countries,  and  we 
must  see  that  it  is  of  vast  importance  to  us,  as  a  nation, 
that  the  mass  of  our  people  continue  in  the  prosecution 
of  Agricultural  pursuits.  The  interests  of  Agriculture 
are  at  the  foundation  of  all  other  interests.  Yo  arts  noi- 
sciences,  nor  morals,  can  prosper  without  these. 

The  veomen  constitute  the  bone  and  muscle  of  the 
nation,  and  in  proportion  as  this  interest  flourishes,  sO 
will  all  others.  It  is  impossible  for  us  to  tell  the  billions 
and  trillions  of  property  valuation  in  our  country.  But 
if  the  same  svstem  of  industry  could  be  carried  out  in 


the  States  of  this  Union,  that  prevails  in  our  own  State 
and  in  the  Free  States  generally,  we  should  soon  become 
the  wealthiest  and  most  powerful  nation  on  the  globe* 
But  there  is  a  dark  cloud  in  the  horizon,  and  although 
at  first  it  ‘Hvas  no  bigger  than  a  man’s  hand,”  it  has  in^ 
creased  and  kept  increasing  until  its  thick  darkness  is 
shadowed  upon  the  whole  land.  We  need  not  tell  you, 
tliat  Slavery  is  a  severe  draw-back  to  Agricultural  inter* 
ests — that  it  is  a  fatal  miasma,  whose  poisonous  breath 
withers  every  fresh  and  green  thing;  that  it  is  a  noisome 
pestilence  which  precedes  the  giant  Death,  and  with  him 
lavs  waste  the  fairest  and  brirfitest  fields  of  our  country. 

4.  O  4 

1^0  tropical  sun  can  brighten  the  darkness  of  this  fiend 
incarnate;  no  orange  flowers  or  bright  lined  blossoms, 
(*an  weave  wreaths  fair  enouaii  to  cover  his  brow  with 
glory;  no  fragrance  of  sunny  and  southern  air,  can  be 
an  antidote  to  his  pestilential  breath.  And  the  monster 
stands,  where  the  God  of  iSJature  has  poured  in  rich 
abundance  his  gifts  of  golden  sunshine,  songs  of  birds, 
and  breath  of  flovrers.  lie  stands  like  a  Death’s  head, 
in  a  banquet  ball,  maliciously  grinning  upon  the  ludi^- 
ous  shadov/s  he  casts  over  every  thino;  p^oodlv,  fair  and 
pleasant.  To  convince  you  that  this  is  no  over-drawn 
picture,  we  have  only  to  contrast  a  fe^v  statistics  of  this 
State  with  those  of  Arkansas,  which,  we  believe  came 
into  the  Union  about  the  same  time,  with  our  own  state. 

Michigan  has  56,243  square  miles — Arkansas  52,19S. 
Michigan  has  population  of  397,754;  Arkansas  209,897; 
47,100  of  these  are  slaves.  Michigan  has  propeidy,  val¬ 
uation  §>59,787,295;  Arkansas  §^39,841,025.  Michigan, 
value  of  farms  $51,872,446;  Arkansas  $15,265,245. — 
Michigan,  improved  land  $11,929,110;  Arkansas  $6,- 
647,969,  value  of  slaves  included.  Michienn  has  an 
Educational  income  of  $214,717;  Arkansas  $105,819. 
Michigan  has  56  Newspapers;  Arkansas  9!  This  last 
comparison  is  w’onderful.  .  But  9  papers  in  Arkansas  ! 


s 


X  /X  * 


Tlie  Literature  of  any  country  is  a  pretty  safe  index  of 
its  prosperity.  No  one  can  doubt  but  that  the  rich  soil 
of  Arkansas  has  a  capacity  equal  to  that  of  our  own 
State  for  Farming  interests,  and  it  is  equally  certain, 
that  Slavery  paralyzes  every  species  of  improvement. 

Happy  for  our  State,  that  we  are  free  from  this  curse< 
and  happy  would  it  be  for  our  whole  country,  if  it  shall 
never  cover  another  square  mile,  beyond  its  present  lim¬ 
its. 

Perhaps  it  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  speak  of  the  im¬ 
portance  of  Agriculture,  as  it  regards  happiness;  yet  we 
(‘annot  bear  referring  to  the  exquisite  pleasure  one  en¬ 
joys  in  sitting  under  his  ‘‘own  vine  and  fig  tree.*’  You 
may  have  a  drapery  of  soft  foliage  above  you;  “blos¬ 
soms  fresh  from  spring  beauty”  snowing  upon  you,  and 
a  table  loaded  with-fruits,  rich,  bloom-decked — melting 
and  luscious,  before  you.  How  happy  you  find  yourself 
walkincr  throuo;h  vour  own  forest;  wandering  over  broad 
fields,  to  which  vou  hold  the  title  deed;  watching  the 
ricli  waves  of  golden  grain  that  is  ripening  for  your 
farm.  The  songs  of  birds  arc  never  more  pleasant  than 
wheii  vou  think  thev  are  your  birds,  because  they  built 
nests  in  vour  trees;  the  hum  of  bees  is  never  more  mu- 
sical  than  when  arising  from  vour  hives;  and  the  bab- 
ble  of  the  brook,  is  none  the  less  tolerable,  because  it 
wdnds  through  your  meadow.  There  are  myriad  pleas¬ 
ures  in  rural  life,  that  are  found  in  no  other,  and  they 
are  ]>leasures  of  the  purest  kind;  for  they  are  insepara¬ 
bly  connected  with  the  great  and  beautiful  works  of  na¬ 


ture- 


“Thcn,  m^'n 

Whom  Nature's  works  can  chr.rm,  with 
(.od  biniHelf,  lH)id  converse :  ^tow 
Familiar,  dav  by  day,  with  fJis  concej'tions; 
Act  upon  his  plans,  and  foim  to  h.s.  the 
P.eiish  of  il)eir  souls.” 


Happiness  cannot  but  be  connected  with  such  a  life, 
and  since  happiness,  the  phantom  that  lures  us  on  to  ail 
iuture  hours,  and  we  can  in  a  great  degree,  contribute 


to  that  happiness,  by  Agricultural  life,  its  importance 
need  not  longer  be  argued. 

Agriculture  should  be  studied  as  a  science.  More 
general  knowledge  of  its  principles,  is  necessary.  Men 
ot  lettei's  have  been  comparatively  ignorant  of  the  broad 
and  plainest  fields  which  Agriculture  opens  up  to  the 
view  of  scientific  and  investigating  minds.  We  need 
men  of  ability  and  research  now,  to  go  out  upon  this 
new  field,  unlock  its  hidden  treasures;  bring  to  light  its 
veiled  resources,  and  develop  its  vast  capabilities. — 
Whoever  will  do  this,  will  gain  a  crown  of  glory,  beyond 
and  brighter  than  that  of  kings,  heroes  and  statesmen. 
For  whoever  shows  a  great  heart,  engaged  for  the  good 
of  man,  and  spends  a  life  devoted  to  unselfish  purposes, 
having  for  its  aim,  the  elevation  of  humanity — -him  will 
posterity  show  itself  worthy  enough  to  hold  in  the  most 
grateful  adoration.  Other  paths  of  life  have  been  light¬ 
ed  bv  the  sun  of  science.  There  have  been  thousands 

V' 

of  men,  in  every  branch  of  business,  who  have  devoted 
their  time  and  talents  to  their  profession,  its  improve¬ 
ment  and  elevation.  There  have  been  men  in  all  other 
pursuits,  who  have  made  their  profession,  not  only  the 
means  of  procuring  daily  bread;  but  have  labored  faith- 
full  v  and  well,  to  secure  the  honors  of  their  own  avoca- 
tion.  Poetry  has  had  its  Shakspeare,  Milton,  Byron  and 
Fowper.  Oratory  has  had  its  Demosthenes,  Cicero, 
Webster,  Clav,  Pitt  and  Brougham.  History  has  had 
its  Herodotus,  Plinv,  Eollin,  Hume.  Gibbon  and  Mac 
Aulev.  Astronomy  has  found  its  Tycho,  Brahe,  Hers- 
(hell  and  Levrier.  Botany  its  Discorides,  Jussieu  and 
Linnteus.  Mechanics,  their  Faust,  Guttenberg,  Watts, 
FTewton,  Franklin,  Fulton  and  Morse.  So  it  has  been 
in  every  other  branch  of  Science  or  domain  of  known 
edge;  but  where  are  those  who  have  sought  among  the 
labors  of  the  peaceful  husbandman,  to  add  to  the 
.'^Achievements  and  hap>pines3  of  mankind? 


There  may  have  been  some  in  past  ages,  who  ponder¬ 
ed  and  labored  in  quietness,  with  a  view  to  raise  Agri¬ 
culture  to  a  position  which  it  deserved  to  take;  but  the 
dazzling  glow  of  the  Historian’s  narration,  has  danced 
and  gleamed  on  the  armor  of  the  warrior,  while  the 
practical  workers  of  the  w^orld  have  been  martyrs  to  the 
difficulties  which  have  “  died  without  odes  or  funeral 
orations,  to  celebrate  their  triumphs  or  honor  their  me¬ 
mory.” 

This  is  wrono;.  Agriculture  should  take  its  rank  among 
the  nobility  of  professions;  and  this  it  never  will  do, 
until  men  of  science  and  genius  turn  their  attention  to 
it;  thoroughly  investigate  its  properties,  and  exhibit  its 
capacities.  That  there  has  already  been  something  done, 
we  do  not  deny.  The  influence  of  man,  even  the  little 
he  has  exerted,  over  both  vegetables  and  animals,  is 
wonderful.  He  has  changed  the  crab  into  the  apple; 
the  harsh  and  stringent  sloe  into  the  delicious  plum; 
the  coarse  and  sea-side  brassica  into  the  cauliflower; 
and  has  improved  and  augmented  the  corn  tribes  to  an 
incredible  extent.  All  domestic  animals,  whether  used 
for  food,  service  or  pleasure,  have  sprung  from  a  few 
wild  and  uncultivated  species,  and  have  been  made  what 
they  are,  in  a  great  degree,  by  the  intervention  of  man. 

We  have  had  a  Davy,  Sinclair,  Anderson,  Coke,  Xai- 
mes  and  Young — men,  who  united  philosophical  sagaci¬ 
ty,  with  patient  experiment.  They  have  done  a  blessed 
work  for  Agriculture,  but  thev,  with  a  few  others,  are 
the  only  exceptions  to  those  who  have  had  it  in  their 
power  to  improve  the  science,  and  have  left  it  neglected 
and  forgotten.  Hence,  we  claim,  with  great  justness, 
that  Agriculture  has  not  been  thoroughly  studied  as  a 
science,  to  any  great  extent,  and  that  it  has  hidden  re¬ 
sources,  whicli  it  should  be  a  pleasure,  and  is  a  duty  for 
scientific  men  of  tliis  age  to  investigate. 

Before  entering  other  fields  of  labor,  men  must  prc: 


pare  for  them  by  a  severe  course  of  study,  or  a  long 
term  of  apprenticeship;  but  whoever  heard  of  a  boy 
apprenticed  to  learn  the  Farmer’s  trade?  or  of  one  pur- 
suing  a  course  of  study  preparatory  to  becoming  a  Far¬ 
mer?  We  hear  that  boys,  and  even  men,  are  “working’’'^ 
on  farms — ne^^er  that  they  are  shidying  or  thinking  on 
farms.  Most  appropriately  it  is  said  that  they  are  work¬ 
ing^  for  the  labor  of  many  farmers,  is  simply  and  ordy 
the  working  of  a  machine — working  with  little  or  no 
reason,  and  with  no  view  to  economy  of  either  time  or 
labor — the  same  never  ending  rise-up  and  sit-down,  that 
a  perpetual  motion  automaton  might  perfonn. 

Man  should  be  only  the  controlling  influence,  the  rea¬ 
soning  being,  the  motive  power  in  Agriculture;  study¬ 
ing  to  impinve  and  increase  its  productions,  and  inven¬ 
ting  machinery  to  perform  the  menial  labor.  And  we 
earnestly  believe,  that  the  dawn  of  a  day  is  near,  even 
that  this  is  the  twilight  of  a  time,  when  a  man  shall  not 
go  forth  to  his  fleld  as  unthinking  as  the  plow  he  follows, 
but  wisely  reasoning,  judging  and  performing.  Happy 
day,  too,  when  a  man  shall  sit  under  his  own  vine-cov¬ 
ered  portico,  and  look  upon  his  bmad  lands  blooming% 

I 

even  to  a  surfeit  of  blossoms,  and  pix)ducing  all  that  they 
are  capaMe  of  producing^  and  all  that  can  delight  the  eye, 

or  minister  to  a  healthv  taste !  When  each  home  sha]  I 

%/ 

1)6  a  miniature  palace  in  tastefulness  and  beauty,  and 
everv  a’arden  a  Paradisaical  one  in  blossom,  richness, 
fragrance  and  order.  If  we  do  not  during  our  lives  see 
our  land,  our  Eden,  there  may  he  those,  young  in  years, 
who  shall  in  later  life  have  the  joy  of  such  a  scene.  To 
ensure  this  high  state  of  cultivation,  and  render  our  land 
such  a  blooming  garden,  there  must  be  a  more  extensive 
division  of  the  land.  Rich  men  must  part  with  a  por¬ 
tion  of  their  half-tilled  acres,  and  poor  men  from  tilling 
farms  for  others,  must  have  those  of  their  own  to  till. — 
There  must  be  small  farms  and  more  farmers'.  Ahh** 


12 


J 


bodied  clerks  must  l)eave  their  places,  Behind  counters^ 
and  desks,  to  pale-faced  seamstresses,  and  go  out  on- 
farms,  to  gain  healthy  countenances  and  fruitful  lands. 

—  I 

The  almost  unlimited  extent  to  which  a  few  acres  of* 
land  may  be  cultivated,  is  already  seen  in  vegetable-' 
^Towiiifif  gardens  near  cities.  We  have  ourselves  knowni 
of  six  acres  of  land,  near  ISew  York,  which  in  one  year* 
produced  for  its  owner  $15,000.  This  was,  of  course^ 
cultivated  on  chemical  principles. 

We  cannot  limit  the  productiveness  of  the  earth. — ■ 
Ghinese  culture  shows  that  it  can  be  carried  beyond  any 
thing  to  which  we  are  accustomed,  and  it  is  probable 
that  every  American  Farmer,  if  he  would  make  the  ex¬ 
periment,  might  realize  the  apologue  of  the  Koman  vine 
<lresser.-  ^TTa^ung  two  daughters,  we  are  told,  that  when 
the  oldest  was  married,  he  gave  her  a  third  of  his  vine¬ 
yard  for  a  portion;  notwithstanding  which,  he  had  the 
s-ame  quantity  of  fruit  as  before.-  When,  his  youngest 
daughter  was  married;  he  gave  her  half  of  what  remain¬ 
ed;  and  still,  because  he  bestowed  on  the  portion  reser-- 
ved  as- much  labor  as  he  had  formerly  on  the  whole,  the 
produce  of  his  vineyard  waS' undiminished.”  If  such  a 
result  could  be  obtained  when  cultivators  were  ignorant 
of  many  important  principles,  what  might  not  be  done,> 
now  by  farmers  who,  uniting  science  with  experience, 
r^'liouid  confine  their  labors  to  a  few  acres?  Evident! v,.. 
v/e  should  greatly  enrich  ourselves  as  a  I^ation,  and^ 
vastly  beautify  the  appearance  of  our  farms. 

Such  a  result  is  desirable,  and  it  is  within  the  powen 
of  eacli  Farmer  to  aid  in  bringing,  it  about.  Such  a 
course  would  not  only  make  many  poor  men  rich  ones„ 
but  would  rescue  many  barren  acres  from  the  possession: 
of  mullins  and  thistles,  and  make  them  bloom  as  the  rose.^ 

Agricultural  Chemistry  should  be  more  extensively 
^tudie(l.  It  sliould  be  a  study  insisted  uj)on  in  our 
schools,  especially  for.  boys,  who  are  or  may  be  coniiectr- 


»€d  with  Agriculture.  We  regret  that  there  is- so  little  at¬ 
tention  paid  to  this  in  our -schools — that  in  fact  it  is 
hardly  reputable  in  city  schools,  or  colleges,  for  a  young 
man  to  own,  that  his  highest  ambition  is  to  be  a  good 
Fariner.  We  are  sorry  that  here,  in  a  democratic  land, 
we  haye  to  confess  to  the  sin  of  a  o;rowin2:  taste  for  a 


•division  of  society,  into  idle  aristocrats  and  plebian  wor¬ 
kers — of  an  admiration  for  sickly  delicacy,  instead  of 


a 


healthy  robustness — a  preferment  for  the  addle-brained, 
-city  fop,  to  the  plain, -sensible,  young  Farmer.  Sad  in- 
^deed  will  be  the  day  when  America  sees  her  •children 
-despise  the  tillers  of  her  own  proud  soil !  If  such  a  day" 
should  come,  when  we  live,  we  shall  prophecy  in  the 
•streets,  and  cry  in  the  high  jdaces — Behold,  how"  are 
the  mighty  falleni  The  time  of  her  desolation  is  nigh, 
.and  the  day  when  her  fruitful  places  shall  be  a  howling 
wilderness,  is  at  liand !”  But  we  do  not  expect  this.— 
W  e  hope  better  things  of  America,  than  to  see  her  tall 
from  her  proud  place  among  the  iSTations  of  the  earth, 
-.as  Greece  did,  enervated  by  luxnriousness  and  idleness: 
•destroyed  by  the  sun  of  sad  prosperity. 

We  hope  that  the  scorn  with  wFich  some,  even  here, 
pretend  to  look  upon  Agriculture,  and  other  useful  sci- 
•ences,  will  prove  only  an  opinion  of  hot-house  growth, 
and  that  it  will  neither  endure  the  reproach  of  good 
•sense  and  correct  taste.  We  need  not  argue  the  dignity 
»of  labor;  the  honor  of  an  honest,  sun-bumed  face,  and 
•toil-worn  hands;  the  wealth  of  a  spirit,  rich  in  the  con¬ 
sciousness  of  being  useful,  and  happy  in  the  knowledge 
that  some  of  life’s  great  ends  are  answei’ed  by"  their  liv¬ 
ing.  The  ancestry"  of  the  laborer  proves  the  true  dignity^ 
-of  his  birth.  Xo  idlers  can  claim  such  a  genealogy,  as 
he  can,  and  they"  are  not  among  the  low,  or  forgotten  in 
the  annals  of  fame,  who  have  been  stem,  faithful  men  of 
labor.  Adam  was  a  Farmer,  w"hile  yet  in  Paradise,  and 
nfter  his  fall,  commanded  to  earn  his  bread  by-  the  s^veat 


14 

of  his  brow.  Job,  the  honest,  upright  and  patient,  was 
a  Farmer,  and  his  patience  has  passed  into  a  proverb. 
Socrates  was  a  Farmer,  yet  added  to  his  calling,  the 
glory  of  his  immortal  philosophy.  St.  Lnke  was  a  Far¬ 
mer,  and  divides  with  Promethens,  the  honor  of  subjec¬ 
ting  the  ox  for  the  use  of  man.  Cincinnatus  wms  a  Far- 
mer,  and  the  noblest  Roman  of  them  all.  Burns  was  a 
Farmer,  and  the  Muse  found  him  at  the  plow,  and  filled 
his  soul  with  poetry. 

Washington  was  a  Farmer,  and'  retired  from  the  high¬ 
est  eaidhly  station,  to  enjoy  the  quiet  of  rural  life,  and 
present  to  the  world  a  spectacle  of  human  greatness. — 
The  enthusiastic  LaFayette — ^the  steadfast  Pickering — ^the 
scholastic  Jefferson — ^the  chivalric  Randolph — ^the  elo¬ 
quent  Clay^ — ^the  talented  Webster — all  found  an  Eldora¬ 
do’s  consolation  from  life’s  cares  and  troubles  in  the  green 
and  verdant  lawns  that  surrounded  their  homesteads. 

Daniel  Defoe,  the  author  of  Robinson  Crusoe,  began 
life  as  a  hosier,  and  became  a  celebrated  wndter.  Will¬ 
iam  Cobbett  was  in  his  life  a  Farmer’s  bov.  Isaac  Wal- 
ton,  the  ^^complete  angler,”  was  a  linen  draper.  Thomas 
Simpson,  the  great  mathematician,  wms  a  weaver,  at  one 
period  of  his  life.  Sir  Richard  Arkwright,  the  inventoi* 
of  the  cotton  spinning  inachine,  wms  a  poor  man,  and 
commenced  life  as  a  barber.  James  Brindley,  the  author 
of  canal  navigation  in  Europe,  the  first  who  tunneled 
gi’eat  hills,  and  brought  ships  across  navigable  rivers  on 
bridges,  was  a  wheel-wright.  Ben  Johnson  was  a  brick¬ 
layer,  Sir  William  HerscheU,  the  greatest  astronomer 
that  the  world  ever  saw,  was  once  a  singing-master. — 
Chautrey,  the  great  sculptor,  was  a  milk  and  butter  boy. 
Sir  Thomas  Lawrence  was  the  son  of  an  inn-keeper. — 
Will  Shakspeare  was  a  poor  man’s  son,  his  father  could 
not  write  his  name,  and  his  cross  or  mark  still  exists  in 
the  record  of  Stratford  on  the  Avon,  to,  attest  the  fact. 
John  Bunyan,  the  greatest  master  of  Allegory,  and  am 


thor  of  the  second  best  book  in  the  world,  was  a  tinker. 
Hogarth,  the  greatest  master  of  the  pencil,  was  a  silver- 
smith’s  apprentice. 

These  men  have  magnified  their  greatness  and  good¬ 
ness,  by  an  association  with  ordinary  labor,  a  sympathy 
with  the  cares  and  trials  of  common  men,  and  their  glo¬ 
ries  remain  untarnished — their  spotless  virtues  undim¬ 
med,  and  their  noble  examples  will  be  kept  in  rememb¬ 
rance,  and  preserve  their  names  consecrate,  so  long  as 
there  is  nobilitv  enough  in  human  hearts,  to  revere  and 
bless  all  that  is  good,  beautiful  and  true.  However  much 
the  door-way  of  the  heart  may  be  choked  by  weeds  of 
pride  and  ignorance,  there  is  to  every  one  some  ingress, 
and  through  that  flows  in  a  channel  of  honesty  and  truth, 
and  even  those  who  affect  to  despise  the  labors  of  the 
husbandman,  in  their  inmost  hearts,  where  a  little  man¬ 
liness  remains,  must  and  do  honor  him. 

Tillers  of  the  soil,  we  honor  you,  we  sympathise  with 
and  love  you.  We  glory  in  being  sprung  from  a  race  of 
yeomen;  and  have  a  worthy  pride  in  knowing  that  the 
blood  of  plain  and  honest  husbandmen  courses  in  our 
veins.  We  are  descended  from  that  band  of  heroes, 
which  gi'ew  up  into  strength,  nobility  and  truthfulness, 
among  the  Green  Mountains  of  Yeimiont,  and  shed  their 
blood  ujDon  the  plains  of  Boston,  Bennington,  and  tracked 
it  upon  the  snows  of  Yalley  Forge.  Are  we  not  spning 
of  a  noble  race?  Can  escutcheoned  peers  boast  a  proud¬ 
er  one?  Or  bloody  heraldry  show  one  of  more  pure  and 
honest  pm^pose? 

Even  now,  we  remember  us  of  a  far  New  England 
home — of  a  cottage  in  a  quiet  valley,  among  tall  moun¬ 
tains — and  the  shadows  of  the  present  close  around  us, 
and  we  go  back  to  those  earlier  days  of  truth  and  good; 
to  those  days  begun  by  early  hours,  and  wholesome  toil 
in  the  field,  and  ended  with  a  clear  conscience,  and  a 
sweet  repose^  We  remember  all  the  purity  and  truth 


_  16  ^ 

that  our  spirits  bore  then;  and  from  that  pleasant  pic¬ 
ture,  we  turn  to  other  homes — to  the  thousand  quiet  ones 
that  are  nestling  in  valleys,  and  on  hill-sides  all  over 
America. 

We  look  upon  your  homes,  fellow  men,  we  see  the 
smoke  curling  up  from  behind  clumps  of  dark  trees — 
we  see  the  bright  faces  of  children,  watching  your  return 
from  the  field — and  note  the  soft  cushioned  chair  that  is 
ready  for  you;  and  looking  farther,  we  see  you  seated 
in  it,  and  with  a  happy  face,  gazing  into  the  fire  and 
wondering,  that  you  are  so  happy  in  having  the  golden 
sheaves  all  bound,  and  the  fr’uits  gathered  in;  and  away 
from  city  sins  and  temptations,  feel  that  you  are  blessed 
above  the  common  lot  of  men.  So  you  are,  too.  And 
while  from  our  heai’t  of  hearts,  we  bid  you  an  earnest 
God  sjpeed^  we  ask  you  to  remember  the  Giver  of  all 
your  blessings — to  perform  the  duties  that  you  owe  to 
your  country,  and  be  sure  to  forget  not,  in  selfish  pur¬ 
poses  and  ends,  that  even  yet — 

“  Life  has  wrongs  that  may  be  righted, 

Noble  deeds  that  may  be  done, 

Its  greatest  battles  are  unfoaght. 

Its  greatest  triumphs  are  unwon.” 


4 


